


To Gravity Falls

by Chasing_Crows



Series: Winter Break in Gravity Falls [3]
Category: Gravity Falls
Genre: Drinking, Drinking & Talking, Emotional, Emotional Hurt/Comfort, Emotions, Family, Family Bonding, Family Feels, Forduary, Gen, Home, Hot Chocolate, Hurt/Comfort, Uncle-Nephew Relationship, Underage Drinking
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2021-02-04
Updated: 2021-02-04
Packaged: 2021-03-16 06:40:55
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,189
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/29203020
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/Chasing_Crows/pseuds/Chasing_Crows
Summary: Forduary 2021 week one - hurt/comfortDipper grapples with his emotions tied to revisiting Gravity Falls after Weirdmageddon and Ford attempts to reassure him.
Relationships: Dipper Pines & Ford Pines
Series: Winter Break in Gravity Falls [3]
Series URL: https://archiveofourown.org/series/2101728
Kudos: 27





	To Gravity Falls

Ford padded through the shack checking that all doors were locked and lights were off. Almost finished with his patrol, he turned the knob leading to the porch and found it unlocked. It was a little past midnight, and he was sure Stan had locked it before going to bed. He opened the door and was met by a figure on the porch. The sliver of moon only just illuminated the snow-covered world, and a startled Dipper stared up at Ford. He was in nothing but his pajamas, and Ford was surprised he didn’t hear the boy make his way outside in the first place.

“Dipper? What in the multiverse are you doing out here?”

He fidgeted and avoided his uncle’s gaze. “Uhh, I, I was kind of warm up in the attic and needed some air.”

“That old place is as drafty and cold as ever- what’s really going on? Are you okay?”

He sighed and scratched the back of his head. “I’m fine, I just needed a minute is all.”

“Hmm, okay. Do you need another moment, or will you come in?”

After considering for a second, Dipper walked towards Ford as he held the door open. He clicked the door shut and locked it behind them, and Ford placed a hand on his nephew’s shoulder. “Follow me?”

He led the boy to the kitchen and motioned for him to take a seat at the table. He got out two mugs, milk, and Swiss Miss Stan had stocked up on in preparation for the kids’ visit. If a few nights ago chocolate milk helped Mabel feel better after a nightmare, why shouldn’t hot chocolate help Dipper with whatever was going through his head? That, and Ford couldn’t deny he enjoyed chocolatey beverages himself.

Once the mugs were spinning in the microwave, he addressed his nephew again. “So, uh, you have something on your mind?”

Dipper took a deep breath. “It’s fine- just, after this summer- well, everything is weird now, but being back in Gravity Falls, it’s… I don’t know. Everything just feels different.”

Dipper’s words resonated with Ford more strongly than he would have liked. “Mhm, I understand.”

Dipper ran his fingers through his hair. “I just don’t know what to do. Like, things aren’t bad now, but,” he sighed. “I don’t even know.”

The microwave beeped and Ford turned his attention back to the hot chocolate. “Me either. If there was an easy fix, we wouldn’t be stuck here, now would we? I guess we should just try to get through things one day at a time.” He couldn’t believe he was being so cliché. “Well, I know that’s not very helpful, but it’s all I’ve got.”

“Yeah, it’s okay.” He rested his chin in one hand and traced arbitrary patterns on the table with the other. “It’s just hard.”

It certainly was, when some days flashed by and others took eternities. “Yes, it’s easier said than done.”

As Ford put the milk back into the refrigerator, he saw the bottle of Baileys Irish Cream Stan had also picked up in preparation for the holidays. It didn’t sound half bad right now, and he wondered if he should drink in front of his great nephew. Then again, Dipper was thirteen, and it’s not like he didn’t know grown-ups drank from time to time. It seemed appropriate in the moment, anyway.

“Uh, Dipper,” he tentatively raised the bottle of Baileys to him. “Do you want some?”

His nephew’s eyes went wide. “Wha- do you mean it?”

Ford shrugged. “Only a little- why not?”

“Yes please!” Dipper said a bit too eagerly.

Ford poured a generous amount into his own mug. “Just don’t tell Stan- I’d like to avoid any trouble from him if I can,” he said as he added a splash to Dipper’s.

Ford sat across the table from him, and his nephew took the mug and wrapped his hands around it. “Thanks, Great Uncle Ford.” He sipped his drink and grinned. “This isn’t bad.”

“Well, I think that’s the point of making a liqueur that basically tastes like melted ice cream,” and he tried his own drink, enjoying the sharp contrast of alcohol and rich sweetness.

Amongst the hum of appliances, they sat, twin lifeboats on the same sea. Dipper’s brow was still furrowed, and Ford wished he could take away his pain, wished he could cast away his own. Ford stared into his drink, desperately searching for answers in the steam that danced on the surface. He was thankful for the stability, the certainty he was granted by life back on Earth, but after wandering countless dimensions for the majority of his adult life, he still felt out of place no matter where he went or what he did. He had been gone for so long that any sense of home from before was erased. Even though he came back to the house built specifically for him, he couldn’t stop feeling like a guest only meant to pass through.

At this point he couldn’t be angry with Stan for making the place his own- it’s not like Ford was using it at the time, and even if it had been left as it was thirty years ago, Ford doubted he would feel like he belonged after all that had happened. His life had been earthquake after tsunami after tornado, throwing him from place to place more battered and disheartened with each change. Of course it hadn’t all been bad, but by traveling from world to world, dimension to dimension, he was an outsider wherever he went.

All this sat heavily within him, but a creak deep within the shack brought him back to the kitchen with its dim lighting and cool tile. And then there was Dipper. Ford was still getting used to being an uncle, and he didn’t always know how to respond to his nephew’s idolization of him. Even though they hadn’t known each other for long, Ford was already such an important part of his life. He might not feel normal being back in Gravity Falls, but to Dipper and Mabel, his presence was a big part of what made the town a home. Ford still felt like he fit into this world like one of his own hands in a standard glove, but when he thought of how the kids saw him, he knew he couldn’t belong here more.

Ford sliced through the silence. “I’m sorry, Dipper, for what you’ve been through and how you’re feeling. If I had a solution for all this I’d tell you, but just- just know you’re not alone. In Gravity Falls, you’ve got people who understand, and you’ll always have a home here, no matter what.”

Dipper’s expression softened, and he nodded. “Yeah, I know.”

Ford lifted his mug to Dipper, offering a weak smile. “To Gravity Falls?” Dipper raised his mug in return and clinked it to Ford’s.

“To Gravity Falls.” They drank. “Thanks, Great Uncle Ford.”

“Any time, my boy.” He finished what was left of his drink, letting the alcohol and his nephew’s presence warm him from the inside out.

**Author's Note:**

> So I know I already had Ford and Mabel drinking chocolate milk late at night, but hot chocolate just fits here, too. I guess Ford really likes chocolatey drinks? Either that, or he knows kids can’t resist (or both). Anyway, sorry if this is pretty similar to my fic “A Little Sweetness Drives Away the Dark”, but since we don’t get enough Ford bonding with the kids, I couldn’t resist.


End file.
